One of the major complaints that causes patients to seek out a doctor of chiropractic is low back pain; it can be caused by either a problem with the lumbar spine or the sacrum.

As a doctor of chiropractic who is also an applied kinesiologist, I use a technique developed by Dr. DeJarnette called Sacro Occipital Technique (SOT); so named because of the relationship between the sacrum (base of the spine) and the occiput (base of the skull).

One of the functions of the sacrum is to pump cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) from the base of the spine back up the spinal canal to the brain and throughout the nervous system. The occiput also helps to pump CSF. The minute rhythmical motion is essential to optimal health – CSF effectively acts as the circulatory system of the brain and spinal cord.

The pelvis forms the foundational support of the human skeleton. It supports the upper body right up to the skull, and enables us to transfer our weight to our legs. The sacrum is a large bone located at the terminal part of the vertebral spine, where it forms the posterior aspect of the pelvis. The spine holds our body upright, supports all of our organs and provides anchor points for our muscles. It also protects our delicate nervous system. The nervous system controls our body, and can only function normally when our structures are balanced and our pelvis, sacrum and lumbar is stable.

Dr. DeJarnette’sstudied two aspects of the sacroiliac joint; the anterior synovial portion and the posterior hyaline cartilage portion. The anterior sacroiliac joint should have motion and this is where sacral nutation and counternutation takes place. The posterior sacroiliac joint is focused on weight-bearing stability and support, which is why at the posterior joint surface there are interlocking of the ridges, and grooves by structures like muscles, ligaments and fascia.

DeJarnette evaluated the weight-bearing characteristics of the sacroiliac joint and determined that when the joint could not adequately support body weight then load bearing stress will be moved upward to the L5/S1 and L4/5 discs, most commonly.

DeJarnette developed an analysis which classified pelvic problems into three different categories and three different non-force techniques using SOT blocks in positions that correct the involved category.

One of the major complaints that causes patients to seek out a doctor of chiropractic is low back pain; it can be caused by either a problem with the lumbar spine or the sacrum.

As a doctor of chiropractic who is also an applied kinesiologist, I use a technique developed by Dr. DeJarnette called Sacro Occipital Technique (SOT); so named because of the relationship between the sacrum (base of the spine) and the occiput (base of the skull).

One of the functions of the sacrum is to pump Cerebro-Spinal Fluid (CSF) from the base of the spine back up the spinal canal to the brain and throughout the nervous system. The occiput also helps to pump CSF. The minute rhythmical motion is essential to optimal health – CSF effectively acts as the circulatory system of the brain and spinal cord.

The pelvis forms the foundational support of the human skeleton. It supports the upper body right up to the skull, and enables us to transfer our weight to our legs. The sacrum is a large bone located at the terminal part of the vertebral spine, where it forms the posterior aspect of the pelvis. The spine holds our body upright, supports all of our organs and provides anchor points for our muscles. It also protects our delicate nervous system. The nervous system controls our body, and can only function normally when our structures are balanced and our pelvis, sacrum and lumbar is stable.

Dr. DeJarnette’sstudied two aspects of the sacroiliac joint; the anterior synovial portion and the posterior hyaline cartilage portion. The anterior sacroiliac joint should have motion and this is where sacral nutation and counternutation takes place.

The posterior sacroiliac joint is focused on weight-bearing stability and support, which is why at the posterior joint surface there are interlocking of the ridges, and grooves by structures like muscles, ligaments and fascia.

DeJarnette evaluated the weight-bearing characteristics of the sacroiliac joint and determined that when the joint could not adequately support body weight then load bearing stress will be moved upward to the L5/S1 and L4/5 discs, most commonly.

DeJarnette developed an analysis which classified pelvic problems into three different categories and three different non-force techniques using SOT blocks in positions that correct the involved category.

Category One is a pelvic torsion with altered sacral nutation(motion) This lack of nutation affects the spinal and cranial meningeal and CSF systems which function to a degree like a closed kinematic chain. Therefore symptoms can be low back pain, chronic shoulder complaints, thoracic outlet syndrome, CSF stagnation, and altered vasomotor function.

Involved muscles can be the piriformis, quadratus lumborum, sacrospinalis, gluteus medius and gluteus maximus. As an applied kinesiologist, I’d check to see if they are hypotonic or hypertonic; as a neurokinetic therapist, I’d check to see if a muscle is weak (or inhibited) by another muscle compensating.

Therapy localization (TL) is done by putting 2 hands on each sacral-iliac joint and then challenging the pelvis for a structural listing and then blocks are put under the patient’s pelvis based to the findings.

The positive Tl’ed side is not adjusted. Cranials are checked.

Category Two happens when ligaments that hold the sacroiliac joint are stretched or sprained, allowing the joint surfaces to separate. Stress can aggravate this ligament weakness via adrenal hormone overdrive.

Symptoms can be low back pain, bowel complaints, possible dysfunction of the reproductive glands and the adrenals, shoulder problems and decreased cervical range of motion.

Involved muscles in addition to the ones mentioned in Category I are the sartorius, gracilis, rectus abdominals and hamstrings along with the iliolumbar ligament. These structures are tested via applied kinesiology and neurokinetic protocols mentioned above. Cranials again are checked.

Category Three occurs when the low back can no longer tolerate the physical stressors placed on it and involves both disc and nerve root aggravation. This can be a sudden one-off event such as a lift, or it can be a pre-existing weakness that is aggravated. Often Category Three produces pain in the low back and sometimes pain radiates down a leg as sciatica.

Muscles to be checked are the psoas as it attaches into the front of the lumbar vertebrae as well as the muscles involved in Category One as Category Three can be a Category One that was never corrected.

Correction in all the categories involves using blocks under the pelvis in specific directions related to the category and the subluxation/misalignment of the pelvis/sacrum. The patient’s weight and breathing help to balance the low back, sacrum and CSF flow and takes the pressure or irritation off the nerve. This allows the body to heal.

Patient is told to ice the involved areas, how to do daily activities, given stretches and exercises and advised on nutrition to help the body heal.

“Whiplash” is commonly associated with auto accidents but also can be associated with many types of trauma like sport injuries, bad falls and even nodding off in chair and awaking with a sudden jerking of the neck.

The term “whiplash” refers to the mechanism of the injury. The proper terminology is cervical hyperextension/hyperflexion sprain. Hyperextension means that the head and neck are bent backward beyond their normal range of movement. Hyperflexion means that the head and neck are bent forward beyond the normal range of motion. Symptoms can include neck and back pain, loss of range of motion, shoulder & arm pain or numbness, jaw pain, dizziness, headaches, nausea, difficulty swallowing etc.

Cranial-Sacral Mechanism: the skull and sacrum operate in ways that are often inadequately considered in whiplash cases. There is movement between the cranial bones and the sacrum called the cranial sacral respiratory mechanism that pumps cerebrospinal fluid https://drvittoriarepetto.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/cranial-sacral-therapy-in-applied-kinesiology/ up and down the spine that helps keep the nerves healthy. Whiplash can cause jamming of the cranial bones resulting in poor function. Poor function of this mechanism can interfere with cranial nerves, some of which control neck muscles, muscles that move the eyes, and muscles that move the jaw, muscles involved with swallowing and breathing.

Some of the very bizarre symptoms of whiplash trauma develop as a result of cranial dysfunction. Intricately associated with this area are the nerves responsible for balance. These include cranial nerve VIII, which supplies the balance mechanism of the middle ear, cranial nerves III, IV, and VI that supply the muscles that move the eyes and are intricately associated with the visual righting reflexes, and the nerve endings in the upper cervical vertebral ligaments that supply the head on-neck reflexes. These reflexes must work together. If there has been injury causing improper nerve supply to one or more of these areas, neurologic disorganization develops that can cause a change in muscle function throughout the body; there may be dizziness, ear ringing, nausea, blurred or double vision, headaches, and myriad other symptoms.

The movement of the sacrum, commonly missed in a non-applied kinesiology office, is checked for dysfunction and adjusted for return of normal function and proper flow of the cerebrospinal fluid so important to the health of the brain and the spinal cord and nerves.

In the chiropractic examination which includes orthopedic, neurological and spinal palpation, the addition of applied kinesiology and muscle testing adds an extra dimension of revealing the patient’s health status.

In the 1960’s, Dr George Goodheart found that muscle testing could be used in the evaluation of normal and abnormal body function. His examination soon included evaluation of the vascular and lymphatic system, nutrition, acupoint therapy, cranial movement and other factors that control health. He called this system based on the application of muscle testing: applied kinesiology.

Muscle testing is the first part of the applied kinesiological examination; muscles are tested in a specific manner in different areas of the body. When a weakness is found, the question that the chiropractic/AK doctor has to answer is why the weakness is there.

Is the weakness due to a spinal/nerve problem, a vascular problem, a problem with lymphatic function, a nutritional default, a problem with organ function or an acupoint associated w/ that muscle? What treatment is needed to correct the problem and improve the patient’s health?

In the process of answering the question, the patient will either place their finger or hand on specific points or areas and the doctor retests the muscle to see if the weakness is corrected. This is called therapy localization.

If the therapy localization is positive and the area involved is the spine or a joint or a cranial fault,, the doctor will move the area in a way to stimulate neuro/mechano receptors in the joint or spine. This is called a “challenge’ and shows the direction of manipulation needed to improve function of the joint/spine and/or cranial movement.

Therapy localization is also used to evaluate if there is a problem w/ the vascular and lymphatic that supply the organs of the body or the meridian/acupoint system that are related to certain organ and muscle function.

In addition to the information from blood tests and examination of hair, eyes, skin, etc, an applied kinesiologist can use muscle testinng to “challenge” the supplements needed or the possibility of food allergies or intolerances that are affecting the patient’s health.

Therefore the addition of applied kinesiology combined with usual examination helps find what the problem is and how to correct it. The correction immediately improves muscle function and decreases the pain or the problem that the patient first came in with to the doctor.

On future visits, the above examination reveals if the corrections held and if the patient’s health is improving.

When health is restored , an applied kinesiologist uses these methods to maintain health and correct problems before they develop.

If you have been following my blogs, you know that as a Doctor of Chiropractic and an Applied Kinesiologist I am interested in nutrition. In this blog, I am recommending that at least half of your calcium intake (daily intake – 900mg- 1200 mg) come from the food that you eat. Please see below for a listing of calcium in common foods.

There are reasons for this: one is that fresh unprocessed foods contain other minerals besides calcium like magnesium, potassium and boron that help form the collagen matrix lattice in your bones that the calcium attachs itself to.

These fresh foods like green leafy vegetables and yogurt contain Vitamin K; one of the functions of this vitamin is to keep calcium out of your joints and arteries. Other food like dairy products, eggs, fish contain Vitamin D which helps the calcium attach to the bone.

In another blog, I talked about being careful about what kind of calcium is in your supplements as some calcium supplements can prevent absorption of calcium, weaken your bones and create other health problems.

One of the protocols I perform when I have a new patient is I look at the labels of the multiple vitamin and calcium supplements they are taking as their daily routine.

In this blog, I’ll be talking about two minerals that may be critical to your health.

One of the most common problems is the use of Calcium Carbonate in the supplement they are taking. Calcium Carbonate is an antacid which a lot of vitamin companies use because it is cheap.

The problem is that you need acid in your stomach in order to digest your food and absorb vitamins and mineral from both your diet and your supplements. Taking Calcium Carbonate stops that digestive process.

Decreasing (or completely getting rid of) the acid in your stomach means that you can’t digest and absorb not only Calcium but protein, iron, Vitamin B12 and zinc.

So basically you are setting yourself up for osteoporosis, fatigue, muscle wasting, iron anemia, memory problems and poor wound healing to mention a few.

And because of the lack of acid, you may feel like you have heartburn and think that you have too acid and take more antacids; further compounding the problem.

The other major mineral in patient’s supplements that I’ll be talking about is iron.

Unless you are a menstruating women w a heavy flow or an extreme athlete or on an extreme starvation diet, iron supplementation may not be necessary.

Iron is present in animal protein and beans, legumes and some leafy green vegetables. And a lot of packaged foods like cereal and dairy and nut milk products have added iron.

Too much iron can accumulate in organs like the brain, the pancreas, gonads, pituitary, liver, the joints and heart and cause problems like toxic liver, arthritis, dementia, etc

Lab tests for excess iron include serum ferritin level and transferrin saturation; regular anemia testing will not show the problem.

A great way to keep your iron levels from getting too high from added iron in your food is to donate blood (and great karma).

There are vitamin companies that make multi-vitamin minerals that do not have added iron; one company that I recommend and use is Metagenics. (http://www.metagenics.com )